Military goals in Syria at odds with Trump’s News Shows
Pentagon hopes to reconcile its vision with his
The Pentagon’s mission against the Islamic State in Syria remains open-ended despite President Donald Trump’s promise of a quick U.S. withdrawal.
Military leaders are focusing on pushing the oncepowerful group out of the small foothold it controls in eastern Syria and ensuring that it cannot plot attacks against the United States, a task defense officials have suggested will require a U.S. footprint after the fighting stops.
What remains unclear is how the military will reconcile its vision with that of the president, whose distrust of foreign wars and desire to demonstrate a swift victory were evident in the past week as he vowed that U.S. troops would depart Syria “very soon.”
“I want to get out. I want to bring our troops back home,” Trump said. “It’s time.”
Public and private comments reveal a gap regarding America’s future role in Syria. Military leaders, mindful of the fleeting nature of earlier military gains in Iraq and Afghanistan, have spoken repeatedly of the need for a robust post-conflict agenda.
Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of U.S. Central Com- Lineups and broadcast times may change.
“State of the Union”
7 a.m. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow; Sen. Susan Collins, R-maine.
“This Week”
8 a.m. Thomas Bossert, White House homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
“Fox News Sunday”
Kudlow; Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y.
“Meet the Press”
9 a.m. Sen. Michael Rounds, R-S.D., Christopher Wylie, co-founder, Cambridge Analytica
“Face the Nation”
9:30 a.m. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Sens. John Kennedy, R-LA. and Ben Cardin, D-MD. mand, predicted that the “hard part” lies ahead, as Syrian towns and cities now free of the Islamic State seek to rebuild and ensure that militants cannot return.
“Of course there is a military role in this,” he said.
While commanders warn against leaving before the territory is stable enough to prevent an insurgent revival, the president wants other countries to stabilize the area.
Meeting with senior national security aides the same day, the president sought to limit U.S. involvement in stabilization activities, but did not press for an immediate withdrawal.
Military officials are trying to address Trump’s concerns even as they race ahead with their plans for what many have described as “finishing the job.”
“The president has actually been very good in not giving us a specific timeline, so that’s a tool that we can use to our effect as we move forward,” Lt. Gen. Kenneth Mckenzie, director of the Joint Staff, told reporters this week.
In an indication of an evolving Pentagon approach, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis suggested Friday that the United States had not decided whether it would continue supporting its main partner in northern Syria after withdrawing troops. “We’ll work all this out,” he said.
For now, military leaders are centering their efforts on the remaining military mission, which presents a sharp contrast to the one they faced in 2014, when militants controlled a vast swath across central and eastern Syria.
After more than four years of intensive airstrikes and U.s.-supported ground operations, only a tiny fraction of that militant domain remains.
Estimates of how many Islamic State fighters are currently in Syria and Iraq range from roughly 1,000 to 3,000.
Even if the Islamic State loses every inch of territory it still holds, American military commanders warn that the extremist group will transform into an insurgency.